James Gurney

This daily weblog by Dinotopia creator James Gurney is for illustrators, plein-air painters, sketchers, comic artists, animators, art students, and writers. You'll find practical studio tips, insights into the making of the Dinotopia books, and first-hand reports from art schools and museums.

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or by email:gurneyjourney (at) gmail.comSorry, I can't give personal art advice or portfolio reviews. If you can, it's best to ask art questions in the blog comments.

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All images and text are copyright 2015 James Gurney and/or their respective owners. Dinotopia is a registered trademark of James Gurney. For use of text or images in traditional print media or for any commercial licensing rights, please email me for permission.

However, you can quote images or text without asking permission on your educational or non-commercial blog, website, or Facebook page as long as you give me credit and provide a link back. Students and teachers can also quote images or text for their non-commercial school activity. It's also OK to do an artistic copy of my paintings as a study exercise without asking permission.

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

This full-length mirror is about 24 inches wide by 5 feet tall, made from heavy plate glass. I got it at a yard sale. I attached it to a plywood panel with a wood moulding around it. The whole panel is firmly screwed to the wall of the studio with a very strong piano hinge along the left-hand side. This allows the mirror to be swung out from the wall at any angle.

I use this mirror in two ways. First, since it is about ten feet behind my drawing table, I can look back to check the reflection of a work in progress. In this way I can quickly spot any flaws in the drawing, and I can see if the tonal organization carries from a long distance.

Before I hung it on the wall, I used to put a big mirror on an easel behind me, but I backed up into (and broke) a couple that way.

I also use the mirror for quick preliminary studies like this one, where I posed for a figure carrying a bunch of bananas (I was too lazy to get real models). I took the pose, studied the action, and established the basics. The American illustrator Tom Lovell suggested this idea to me.--------------Thanks, BoingBoing for doing apost yesterday about "My Friend the Cave Man," and thanks, Kyle, for telling me about it (I was literally staying in a log cabin in Ithaca cut off from everything for the last three days).

That's a really nice study, it looks like one of Cornwell's preliminaries!

Setting up the mirror is a great idea, it must be nice to have it in the studio though. A few months ago I got nothing but weird looks after people saw me posing and drawing in front of a mirror in our animation room :)

I do the same thing, but I use a plexiglass mirror. That way, if I back up into it (which I do) the results aren't disastrous. I also keep a tripod handy to take pictures of myself in the mirror so I don't have to hold the pose forever.

Thanks you James for the wonderful blog, I've learnt absolute tons and it's a real inspiration to me.

If you don't mind, I'm having trouble learning to simplify my tones and palette because I grew up on digital, where without consequences I could just play a balancing act with the colours and values until I found something pleasing. I was wondering if you had any suggestions as to what I could study so I could stop playing this little guessing game of mine?